Those who are familiar with Sandy Chilewich's talents know that she is a master in utilizing uncommon materials in daily fashion applications. Her vinyl placemats and floormats made her a popular name and gave a lot of credit to her design innovations. Griffin teamed up with her brand and offers Chilewich style iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 cases that feature unique fabrics and materials and are recognizably Chilewich. The Griffin + chilewich series include iPhone 4S/4, iPhone 3G as well as iPod touch cases; and the newest iPhone 4S cases in the series include several earth-tone color options.

Design

The Elan Form Chilewich 2012 Case for iPhone 4S has a distinctive look. It follows Griffin's Elan series form design which includes a two-piece impact resistant polycarbonate hard shell and another layer of exterior protection for the back of the iPhone 4S. The Chilewich case's exterior is covered with her trademarked woven vinyl textile that literally uses vinyl laces to tie down threads that form different patterns in different colors. The exterior has an extreme texture and provides some solid protection against pokes, scratches and bumps to the iPhone in addition to the hard shell. The case is very easy to install and take apart thanks to the two-piece snap on design.

Features

The Griffin Elan Chilewich case for the iPhone 4S is not only a sturdy case but also a very functional one. The interior of the case has a soft touch coating that feels nice in hand and won't scratch your iPhone when you are handling it with the case. The top part of the case comes off when you release the snaps, and you can put your phone in or take out of the bottom half easily. The case also wraps around the sides of the iPhone's sides and cover the front bezel with sturdy edges, and when you put your iPhone 4S down, the case will definitely shoulder the weight and separate the screen from the surface.

The Elan Form Chilewich 2012 case also has all the necessary cutouts. The case has large cutouts on both the top and the bottom of the phone, leaving out the buttons, ports on both ends. While you should have no trouble using any audio headphones, sync and charge cables with the phone, you should get docks or speakers/clock alarms with some room around the 30-pin dock connector to accommodate the case as the hard plastic shell has some thickness. The case has a perfect side cutout for the silence button (fits all iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 models) and the volume buttons; and a perfect rear cutout for the camera and flash. The rear camera cutout gives the camera full view and the flash to fully illuminate.

Conclusion

There are currently 5 earth tone colors in the Elan Form Chilewich 2012 Case collection for the iPhone 4S, and several others for the iPhone 4. The case looks stylish and colors are subtle yet interesting enough to stand out from a crowd of iPhone 4S cases. The Elan form factor is popular and provides great protection for the iPhone 4S. The case is easy to use and has all necessary cutouts for access to buttons and ports.